Whittier is the end of the line for the cruise and the beginning for the Denali portion of the trip. We should get into Whittier at 12:30 am (midnight) and we won’t need to meet our train to Denali until 5:45 pm. The leaves us open all day.
Once again I turned to the shore excursions. We want to be sure that whatever we do we will make our connections so we chose to explore with the cruise line vendors.
The tour we settled on here has me really excited because it starts with a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
Like most places with the words wildlife conservation center in their titles, this where animals unable to survive in the wild are given refuge in spacious habitats. Here, you can safely get close, observe and photograph some of Alaska’s biggest land mammals, including moose, bison, bears and musk ox.
This is right up my alley!
But as an old commercial used to say…But wait, There’s more!
30 minutes away our tour will take us to the base of mighty Mt. Alyeska, home to one of the most breathtaking year-round destination resorts in the world. Ride Alyeska Resort’s Glacier Express Tram and take in panoramic views of Turnagain Arm and the surrounding valley from 2,300 feet above its floor. Woo Hoo! Can’t wait!
The last leg of the tour is the return to Anchorage (Whittier) along the Seward Highway-Alaska’s “Scenic Byway.” We should be back at the Welcome Center with plenty of time to make it to the train station at 5:45 to head to Denali.
Of course these tours are all subject to change. I’m pretty sure we’ll do them all. The only one I really want to confirm with the excursion desk is this one. The special notes say you have to be staying in Anchorage because you have to get your luggage from the ship. I might try to call Princess to confirm but if I can’t get through there is an excursion desk on every cruise I’ve ever been on so we’ll have plenty of time for adjustments if necessary.
So our trip is all planned. Excursions booked. It’s just a matter of counting down the days. I can’t wait to share our actual experiences and of course…my actual photos.
The pictures I’ve used in these recent posts have all been on the internet with no copy write information. I was careful not to knowingly pirate any other photographers work.